Geriatrics

Baylor researchers are conducting a randomized, controlled trial to compare hospitalizations in homebound elderly individuals also receiving interdisciplinary house calls to similar subjects receiving usual office medical care. Baylor is also working with Johns Hopkins University to study Medicare claims data to determine whether interdisciplinary senior clinics reduce hospitalizations and emergency department visits.

A third study describes differences in end-of-life preferences between individuals with Alzheimer's disease and individuals with congestive heart failure and a recently completed study compared the incidence of pressure ulcers in nursing home residents to that in homebound individuals. Results suggested a trend toward more pressure ulcers in homebound individuals cared for by their own families than in those in nursing homes.